The Kavanaugh family

Olivia,

A search of Subscription sites  www.rootsireland.ie  and www.findmypast.ie did not show any Nicholas Kavanaugh for County Tipperary. In Ireland the name is spelled Kavanagh or Cavanagh. Does the attached US census record for 1900 mean anything? The 1910 census records birth date 1845 - Ireland.

You might get details of his parents from his marriage in 1852, or his death record.

Regards,

Hello Olivia,

It’s not uncommon for the birth dates of our Irish ancestors to be incorrect on their death certificates, in their obituaries, and on their gravestone inscriptions.

This may be the case with your Nicholas Kavanagh, that is, if I have found the correct death record for him at the Find My Past (FMP website, and at the subscription Ancestry.com. The death record was submitted to Ancestry.com by Sue Kavanagh Joos in 2014.

This death record shows Nichola died in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, on March 12, 1913 at the age 69. The death record has his date of birth as October 15, 1843. His occupation was, “Farmer.”

The death record also shows that Nicholas’s father was Thomas Kavanagh and his mother, Mary Roach. There seems to be ink blots that cover portions of Mary Roach’s name in the death record, which you can access at: https://tinyurl.com/2p9msjph

The death record further shows that the informant who reported the death to the Kaukauna registrar was Mr. Tom Kavanangh, whose address looks like “No. Kaukauna,” which could be North Kaukauna.

The cause of death was “Lobar Pneumonia,” with the contributing cause of death being “Heart Failure.” The attending physician looks like William Nolan, of Kaukauna.

Nicholas is buried in Freedom, Wisconsin.

With the names of his parents recorded in the death certificate, I believe I found two baptism entries for Thomas, both of which show he was baptized in the Fethard, County Tipperary Catholic Parish on 31 August 1841. Both baptism entries shows that Nicholas’s’ father was Thomas Kavanagh, and that his mother was Mary Roche. Roche is an alternate spelling of Roach.

The first baptism is a transcription from the Find My Past website. You can access the transcription after establishing a free account with FMP.: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F0410115

Below is the second baptism transcription from Ancestry.com, giving the same details about the baptism:

Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915

Name Nicholas Kavanagh
Baptism Age 0
Event Type Baptism
Birth Date 1841
Baptism Date 31 Aug 1841
Baptism Place Fethard, Tipperary, Ireland
Parish Variants Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese Cashel and Emly
Father Thos Kavanagh
Mother Mary Roche

Source Citation
National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Irish Catholic Parish Registers; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 02504 / 06

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016
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The National Library of Ireland has recorded Fethard Catholic baptisms. The baptism for Nicholas in the Fethard Catholic Parish register can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/3ep3hfvk

There are two facing pages of the register. The baptism for Nicholas is on the left-hand page, 3rd entry down from the top. His godparents are Tim Wade and Mary Grany.

Olivia, if you confirm that the Kaukauna, Wisconsin death record for Nicholas Kavanagh is the death record for your 4th great grandfather, I’ll see if I can find the baptism records for any siblings he had, and the church marriage record for his parents.

With Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan

SOURCES

Find My Past (FMP)
Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com submission of Nicholas Kavanagh's death record by Sue Kavanagh Joos
National Library of Ireland